Drake’s Take: New Releases 03.10.09

This week Drake shines the spotlight on his native Seattle, featuring two acts from his hometown and one from his home label. While I kind of disagree with him a little about Face Control, (I’m still more of a Plague Park man myself), it’s a bit of a moot point, as I wouldn’t really rank either as desert island material. The new one from Anni Rossi on the other hand, could easily make my year end list (which I usually don’t actually do), and as a result, I’ll be posting a little more on her later. -ed.

If Wolf Parade (Dan Boeckner‘s day job) is influenced heavily by Bowie-era Brian Eno, then the Handsome Furs svengali is the late Martin Hannett, whose work with Joy Division inspires a lot of the sound of Face Control. This second album is a far more enjoyable experience than Plague Park, and shows that perhaps Boeckner has enough songs to fuel both his half of WP and his side/love project HF, but the band still feels like a work in progress. I’m looking forward to the next advancement, but for now, it’s nice distraction while we await the next Wolf Parade release.

Already a sensation before even playing the first show, the self-titled debut release from Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band proves that the band is definitely for real. (Naturally, with hype, there’s already some backlash.) The angular guitars and controlled chaos from the local five-piece takes unexpected twists but always returns to a hummable chorus. It’s noise rock with a classic rock approach, and that just might be my favorite approach to indie rock. The winner in the ‘I-get-to-record-the-next-big-thing’ sweepstakes here is Scott Colburn (Animal Collective, Arcade Fire,) and he does his best to get out of the way and let the band’s song work their magic. It’s a great debut, but you might not want to take my word for it, as they’ve seemed to have just recorded the music I want to hear, ruining my objectivity entirely.

Another local product, Beads is the solo project of The Blakes‘ Snow Keim, and the debut, No One Knows finds him sounding especially vintage, pulling a quieter Beatlesque sound. The album seems to have been recorded (with help from brother and fellow “Blake” Garnet Keim) as cathartic release for some serious sh*t that Keim went through in the past year or so, and as far as tough times go, it has to sound better than it felt.